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West Indies crushes USA by 9 wickets in Super 8 clash

BRIDGETOWN (BARBADOS): Opener Shai Hope blasted an unbeaten 82 as West Indies came back roaring to crush the United States of America by nine wickets in the T20 World Cup Group 2 Super Eight match here.

After bowling out the USA for a mere 128 in 19.5 overs, the West Indies batters went all guns blazing from the word go to knock off the target in 10.5 overs to make 130/1, recording a comfortabl­e win.

The win improved West Indies’ standing in the Group 2 points table. The Caribbean side, which had suffered an eight-wicket hammering from England on Wednesday, is now placed second with two points and a Net Run Rate of 1.814.

West Indies skipper Rovman Powell lauded Hope for showing his mettle after being dropped for the contest against England.

“He’s been fantastic, he got a chance against Afghanista­n but was dropped next game against England in St Lucia because of the combinatio­n. However, he was hungry for a good performanc­e,” Powell said.

“It’s (the win is) very special, Kensington brings back special memories for us. We had a great opportunit­y to come out and play some good cricket. (Roston) Chase plays really well, plays a role very well. Keeps things tight. On a good surface, he bowled really well,” Powell added.

Johnson Charles fell for a 14-ball 15 with a couple of fours early on but the pair of

Hope (82 not out) and Nicholas Pooran did the job for their side, smacking the USA bowlers all around the park here at the Kensington Oval.

Hope made a mincemeat of the USA bowling as the right-handed wicketkeep­er-batter clattered eight sixes and four fours to make 82 not out from just 39 balls, with Pooran reaching 27 not out from 12 balls with three sixes and a four.

Hope remained at the forefront of WI’s chase as he forged a 67-run stand for the opening partnershi­p with Charles and then added another 63 runs unbeaten for the second wicket with Pooran, which came off only 23 balls as the Caribbean side ruled the roost.

USA skipper Aaron Jones rued not putting up a better show with the bat on a wicket which had plenty of runs.

“(It was a) tough night for the boys. We had to score about 170-180. In the middle overs, we lost wickets in clusters, it goes like that sometimes. At the end of the day, we needed runs on the board,” he said.

“We tried to go hard with the ball but we know West Indies are a good batting unit. England will be a good game, we are up for a challenge,” he added. Earlier after the West Indies put USA in to bat first, Andre Russell (3.5-0-31-3) and Roston Chase (4-0-19-3) made life tough for the opposition batters.

BRIEF SCORES: USA 128 in 19.5 overs (R Chase 3/19, A Russell 3/31) lost to West Indies 130/1 in 10.5 overs (S Hope 82*)